A Little Catch Up

Only 9 days to Christmas!  So much to do and so little time.  So much has been going on so I am going to do an update in a list form:

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  This is my last week of work before Christmas.  I am off all next week and will be doing LOTS of traveling!  I will be visiting my grandparents, my parents, Jeff's parents and some family in Alabama.
  
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  Holidays are hard when your family is so far away.  My parents are 6 hours from where we live and the husband's parents are 3 hours.  The only positive note is that his parents is the half way point to mine so it makes it slightly easier but for a lot of miles on the car!
  
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  I recently won a giveaway from Pepperoni.  I'm so excited!  It is the first giveaway that I have ever won.  I am thinking about doing one in the future but I need to figure out what to give away first.
  
  
  
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  I am done school for the semester!  I finished last Thursday and now just waiting for my grade to be finalized.  I only have 2 more classes left and then I will be an MBA!
  
  
  
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  I am almost done with Christmas shopping.  Just a few presents left.  I still am not sure what else to buy the husband.  I had plenty of ideas but my mom took one and my mother-in-law took some of the others.  So back to square one!  That is what I get for sharing my ideas. 
  
  
  
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  My kittens have found the Christmas tree.  The new thing for Ollie to do is see how far he can climb up the tree!  I also have some wrapping to fix thanks to some nosy creatures!
  
  
  
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  The holidays and yummy food are not friendly to my figure.  This week we have went to dinner with friends, I had a Christmas party for work today, another party tomorrow and then I will be traveling and eating out a lot for the next week!  Not helping with the weight loss!
  
  
  
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  Minus all the traveling involved I am excited for Christmas.  I will get to see lots of family and old friends.  I will be in my home town for 3 days before Christmas and 1 day after and I am booked every day.  I think I will need a vacation when this is all over!
  
  
  
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  My house chores and laundry have taken a back seat to our busy schedule.  My husband attempted to do laundry this weekend and I came home to 6 loads of laundry dumped on our spare bed.  I hope he likes to iron or likes wrinkled clothes!
  
  
  
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  Jeff and I went on a date night a few weeks ago and saw the Blind Side.  I highly recommend the movie.  I think Jeff was a little embarrassed as I was crying at the beginning.  But it is a great movie
  
  
  

Well I have so much to do before I leave to go on all my traveling.  I have so many posts I need to do to catch up including a tour of my Christmas decorations.  I promise to get to it soon!  Have a good one!

Weight Loss

So before the husband and I went on our cruise in September we decided that we wanted to do some kind of workout program.  So after some research of local facilities we decided to go to a place called the HIT Center.  HIT stands for Huntington Intensive Training.  We both wanted to loss weight and get into better shape.  So at the end of September we began our venture at the HIT Center

We did some testing which showed your BMI (WOW-not a number I wanted to see), your daily calorie burn and your heart rate range.  The heart rate test gives you the range that your heart rate should be when your body is putting forth effort (the low number) and the maximum rate where you are to the point you need to stop (high number).  The husband and I share a trainer.  We started with 15 sessions and we are about 1 session away from being done.  The trainer works you so hard that you are about ready to DIE at the end. 

We do cardio, weights, legs and abs in every session.  While a lot of people are fine going to the gym on their own and knowing what to do-this method of working out works best for us.  I would say eventually we will go on our own but the trainers REALLY push you.  And since I know I am paying for it and have an appointment for every session I know that I have to go and can't go home and put my sweats on like I would like to do!

So with that said I am happy with the results.  Of course along with the workout we are trying to stay under so many calories per day.  I am not religious with my calorie counting but I do try.  I have cut out some of my previous bad habits (like my daily sweet tea every morning) and snacking a lot during work.  While I know I could do better you got to do it in baby steps-right?

So this morning when I got on the scale I was surprised at my weight number.  We didn't work out at all last week because I wasn't feeling very good.  But my number this morning was the lowest I have probably been since my 2nd year or so in college.  My original goal was to loose 20 pounds at first.  Of course I would like more, but 20 pounds sounded like a resonable starting goal and would put me back to where I was probably before college and have me feeling better about  my self.  Since the end of September I have lost 11 pounds.  I know that is not a whole lot, especially in 2 months, but for me who hasn't lost weight in years it is.

 I have a ways to go and I plan to work hard at it.  We are going to continue with the sessions and I hope to add a few boot camps in to for good measure.  Some of my pants are getting too big and I feel better.  The hubby has also done pretty good himself.  It does help that we are doing it together and motivate each other.  So may the weight loss continue!

It's Friday!!!

It's finally weekend time and I can't wait!  Tonight the husband and I don't have any specific plans yet.  We might go see a movie or rent one.  I am sure that we will go out to dinner if we decide to go see a movie.  It is nice not to have any exact plans and we can do whatever and just spend the evening together.

Tomorrow I have to be up bright and early.  I am going with a few other people on a day trip to Dresden, Ohio to the home of Longaberger baskets.  I have a few of them and like to find ones that can be useful around the home.  I have one that serves as a tray on an ottoman and one that holds mail.  There is nothing that I am looking for in particular.  I just heard that it is really pretty at Christmas time and I have been wanting to go.  I also hope to make my own basket and maybe get a few liners for a few baskets that I have that don't have one.

So Saturday should be fun but tiring, so on Sunday I am sleeping in!  Nothing else really on the agenda.  I do hope to do some school work and the gazillion loads of laundry that are waiting for me!  Hopefully I can curl up on the couch and watch some Christmas movies!

Hope you have a great weekend!

Tis the Holiday Season

Oh how I LOVE Christmas music. I could listen to it forever. I love shopping and hearing the Christmas music in the background. Or traveling and listening to a station that only plays Christmas music and hearing all types of Christmas songs.

Growing up I have fond memories of singing Christmas hymns in church. I sang Do You Hear What I Hear for several years as a solo. To this day it is still one of my favorite songs. I love all types-anything from Silent Night to Jingle Bells to Santa Baby!

I also LOVE Christmas movies. I blow up my DVR this time of the year. I still have movies on there from last year. My favorite thing to do is to curl up on the couch and watch several Christmas movies in a row. Lifetime and Hallmark have them ongoing this time of the year. This year one channel (I can’t remember which one) even did a count down to the 25 days of Christmas so they were showing the movies before Thanksgiving!

Last years I watched the movie, Christmas Shoes, on Lifetime. It is a great movie and if you get a chance to see it, grab the tissues! I have several movies on my list for this year including Four Christmases which I hear is funny.

What are your favorite Christmas songs and movies?

December?

I am having a hard time believing it is December!  It seems like I was just opening presents from last year.  This is going to be a busy month-both at work and traveling.  As much as I LOVE fall, I also love the Christmas season-the smells, the food, the decorations and spending time with friends and family.

Luckly I have gotten most of my Christmas shopping done this year.  And most of it is also wrapped!!  I still have some decorations to finish up with and we still haven't put lights up outside and I would love to get to that tonight.

So as 5:00 is now here, I think it is time for a bowl of hot chicken noodle, some Christmas decorating and watching the Biggest Loser with the husband!